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One of Australia’s top conveyancers has warned that PEXA’s planned move into anti-money laundering compliance risks conflicts of interest, data security breaches, and further entrenching its monopoly over property settlements.
Michelle Hendry, president of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers and practice manager at Conveyancing Matters, said it was not appropriate for the $3.4 billion ASX-listed e-conveyancing platform to develop or sell products in the compliance space, highlighting the risk of unforeseen consequences.
“I do not support PEXA’s involvement in the AML/CTF compliance space, nor do I believe it is appropriate for PEXA to be developing or offering any products in this area,” Hendry said.
“It is not the role of an e-conveyancing platform, particularly one that operates as a monopoly in the Australian market, to insert itself into areas of compliance that go beyond its core function.”
PEXA, or Property Exchange Australia, is the primary digital settlement platform used by conveyancers, lawyers and banks to lodge documents and transfer funds electronically, replacing traditional paper-based processes.
The company recently announced it was developing a solution to support due diligence obligations under anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing reforms, which will take effect on 1 July 2026.
Hendry said the move risked “centralising critical aspects of the conveyancing process under a single commercial provider” and creating a litany of risks for practitioners.
“Doing so not only raises significant concerns about independence and data security, but also creates potential conflicts,” she said.
Her comments come as PEXA revealed it would no longer carry interoperability assets on its balance sheet, citing uncertainty over stalled competition reforms for e-conveyancing that were paused last year.
Rival Sympli, a joint venture between the ASX and InfoTrack, said PEXA’s decision underscored urgent regulatory delays.
Chief executive of Sympli, Philip Joyce, warned the lack of progress could entrench PEXA’s monopoly and create a single point of failure in the property settlement market, with the PEXA platform experiencing more than 90 outages in 2024.
Joyce urged the Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) to complete overdue reviews by October, allowing ministers to decide on reforms in 2025.
“The announcement this morning by the PEXA monopoly is partly due to regulatory failure to make a decision – given it has been over seven years that this reform was promised,” he said.
“It is now critical that these long-awaited reviews conclude in October, and ministers make a positive decision in 2025 on next steps of the competition reform – or otherwise risk an emboldened monopoly in this market, forever.
“That would perpetuate a massive single point of failure risk and block meaningful benefits for consumers and small businesses.”
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